In what critics are seeing as an ultimate power grab, state officials in Connecticut are pushing forward a bill to require state investigations of children like never before – calling for a “confidential behavioral health assessment” of every public school student in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12, and every homeschool student at ages 12, 14 and 17.

The proposed Bill 374 is being described as the ultimate home invasion.

“It’s outrageous that state officials could come into private homes and potentially remove children if they are assessed as a threat as a result of the investigation,” Home School Legal Defense Association Senior Counsel Dee Black told WND in an interview.

“Regardless of what state officials claim, I don’t believe the results [of the investigations] will be held confidential.”

Black, who provides legal assistance and advice for HSLDA members in what is ironically nicknamed the “Constitution State,” sees this proposed measure as anything but constitutional.

And when asked if the psychological tests given by the social services hands the state too much unchecked power – enabling government officials to seize and tag children as mentally unfit or maladjusted – Black answered definitively.

“No question about it,” asserted the Memphis State University School of Law graduate. “I don’t think people who live in a free society should be forced to give into mental evaluations of their children.”

He contends such intrusions are both unwarranted and unconscionable.

“Proposed Bill 374 would essentially authorize the state to conduct regular social services investigations of homeschooling families without any basis to do so,” asserts Black, who earned a Master of Laws degree at Georgetown University Law Center. “This outrageous legislative proposal must be stopped in its tracks before it gains any momentum.”

The key motivation behind such a bill including homeschoolers?

“The alleged [Sandy Hook] shooter was allegedly homeschooled for a while, but I’m not sure if it could have anything to do with it,” said Black, who has educated all four of his children at home with his wife. “The bill only covers homeschool and public school students – not conventional private school students. The heightened sensitivity in Connecticut about safety in schools could certainly be a factor [behind the bill] … trying to identify threats before they become a tragedy.”

And just what takes place during these in investigations?

“According to the Connecticut Behavioral Health Partnership, a state organization made up of the Department of Children and Families, Department of Social Services, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and others, a behavioral health assessment is quite comprehensive and invasive,” reports Black, who’s been practicing law for 36 years.

“It includes ‘a review of physical and mental health, intelligence, school performance, employment, level of function in different domains including family situation, and behavior in the community.’”

Putting things into perspective, Black warns that parents could see social services following their children around their neighborhoods, observing them interacting at home with their families, showing up at their work, inspecting their classroom performance, administering IQ tests, psychologically analyzing them and physically examining their bodies.

When would students be subjected to all of this?

“Proposed Bill 374, filed in the Connecticut General Assembly, would require all homeschooled children ages 12, 14, and 17 to undergo a behavioral health assessment,” said Black, who has served with HSLDA as senior counsel for nearly two decades. “These assessments would be conducted by an unspecified health care provider and would be conducted even though there was no indication whatsoever that these children had a behavioral problem.”

And Black warns that the results might not be as private as the state claims.

“The bill states that the results of the assessments are to be disclosed only to the child’s parent or guardian, but that the health care provider must submit a form to the State Board of Education verifying that the child has received the assessment,” he said.

He urges homeschoolers and any Americans concerned about the violation of children’s constitutional rights to act now.

“Immediately contact members of the committee and express … opposition to this unwarranted invasion of family privacy,” Black said. “This legislation is sponsored by Sen. Toni Nathaniel Harp (10th Dist.) and Rep. Toni E. Walker (93rd Dist.), [and] the bill is presently in the Public Health Committee.”

Replies

Wait a moment. Don't they already do those? I remember the yearly IQtests, ink blots and mental moral logic tests given in the public schools from 4th through 8th grade. The results determined what classes we were placed in and whatschools we could attend. When did they stop doing this?

Yes, you are right but that was for the public schools. Not the home schooled children. It is an invasion of a parents rights and privacy to try this on a homeschooling family. Period. For now.

Quoting elizabooks:

Wait a moment. Don't they already do those? I remember the yearly IQtests, ink blots and mental moral logic tests given in the public schools from 4th through 8th grade. The results determined what classes we were placed in and whatschools we could attend. When did they stop doing this?

Id rather homeschool my kid then have him shot at a public school. when was the last time you heard of a kid gunning down their sibs at home because they made fun of them at school. Oh wait you haven't.

I still don't see what has your knickers in a knot. If these tests are the same across the board, then it is for the child's development. If you started to notice trends in your child would you not want them evaluated by someone who has spent time studying to be a professional? Or would you rather do research and possibly misdiagnose something? Not saying they are always right and the parent will always bs wrong, but a plumber might be able to tell that something is off with thier child but a doctor can determine the disease.

Now the sandy hook shooter was home schooled, but only after he had issues in public school. Revising mental health laws might help to prevent this from happening again.
We just have to make sure that what is passed does not extend the limits of what is intended.

Do you think that this bill would pass at all or even one inch, if it were solely intended for homeschoolers?

You know as well as I do that if the system could control homeschooling they would do it in a heartbeat. So, their only way of getting at them is to lump them with the public system to make it look as innocently as possible.

Quoting mem82:

This doesn't seemed aimed at homeschoolers. It would be if they were asking only homeschoolers to do it.

The road to hell is paved with * good intentions *. It isn't the innocence of the law that I am concerned with, it's the egregiousness of it's implementation by buffoons who have a proven track record of abysmal failures. The screaming elephant in the room is the public school system and their failure to pass more kids than their success in graduating kids. The graduation rate is below 70% and on any test I have ever taken, that is a failing grade. Across the board, for all students. You know, Hitler had many great ideas that looked good on paper but when implemented, destroyed and fractured so many people. As a fresh coat a paint can not repair a dilapidated building, you can't come up with a couple of simple * feel good * laws that can repair a failed system.

Just as a footnote.......

A third grade education 100 years ago was at least equivalant to, if not better than, a high school diploma of today.

And you believe that this "health test" is something that any parent should look forward to? NO Thank You.

The reason I am keeping my kids home is to keep their rules off of my kids.

Quoting elizabooks:

Quoting kirbymom:

I still don't see what has your knickers in a knot. If these tests are the same across the board, then it is for the child's development. If you started to notice trends in your child would you not want them evaluated by someone who has spent time studying to be a professional? Or would you rather do research and possibly misdiagnose something? Not saying they are always right and the parent will always bs wrong, but a plumber might be able to tell that something is off with thier child but a doctor can determine the disease.

Now the sandy hook shooter was home schooled, but only after he had issues in public school. Revising mental health laws might help to prevent this from happening again.
We just have to make sure that what is passed does not extend the limits of what is intended.

"In what critics are seeing as an ultimate power grab, state officials in Connecticut are pushing forward a bill to require state investigations of children like never before – calling for a “confidential behavioral health assessment” of every public school student in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12, and every homeschool student at ages 12, 14 and 17".

The proposed Bill 374 is being described as the ultimate home invasion.

“It’s outrageous that state officials could come into private homes and potentially remove children if they are assessed as a threat as a result of the investigation,”Home School Legal Defense Association Senior Counsel Dee Black told WND in an interview.

“Regardless of what state officials claim, I don’t believe the results [of the investigations] will be held confidential.”

Black, who provides legal assistance and advice for HSLDA members in what is ironically nicknamed the “Constitution State,” sees this proposed measure as anything but constitutional.

And when asked if the psychological tests given by the social services hands the state too much unchecked power – enabling government officials to seize and tag children as mentally unfit or maladjusted – Black answered definitively.

“No question about it,” asserted the Memphis State University School of Law graduate. “I don’t think people who live in a free society should be forced to give into mental evaluations of their children.”

He contends such intrusions are both unwarranted and unconscionable.

“Proposed Bill 374 would essentially authorize the state to conduct regular social services investigations of homeschooling families without any basis to do so,”asserts Black, who earned a Master of Laws degree at Georgetown University Law Center. “This outrageous legislative proposal must be stopped in its tracks before it gains any momentum.”

The key motivation behind such a bill including homeschoolers?

“The alleged [Sandy Hook] shooter was allegedly homeschooled for a while, but I’m not sure if it could have anything to do with it,” said Black, who has educated all four of his children at home with his wife. “The bill only covers homeschool and public school students – not conventional private school students.

The heightened sensitivity in Connecticut about safety in schools could certainly be a factor [behind the bill] … trying to identify threats before they become a tragedy.”

And just what takes place during these in investigations?

“According to the Connecticut Behavioral Health Partnership, a state organization made up of the Department of Children and Families, Department of Social Services, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and others, a behavioral health assessment is quite comprehensive and invasive,” reports Black, who’s been practicing law for 36 years.

“It includes ‘a review of physical and mental health, intelligence, school performance, employment, level of function in different domains including family situation, and behavior in the community.’”

Putting things into perspective, Black warns that parents could see social services following their children around their neighborhoods, observing them interacting at home with their families, showing up at their work, inspecting their classroom performance, administering IQ tests, psychologically analyzing them and physically examining their bodies.

When would students be subjected to all of this?

“Proposed Bill 374, filed in the Connecticut General Assembly, would require all homeschooled children ages 12, 14, and 17 to undergo a behavioral health assessment,” said Black, who has served with HSLDA as senior counsel for nearly two decades. “These assessments would be conducted by an unspecified health care provider and would be conducted even though there was no indication whatsoever that these children had a behavioral problem.”

And Black warns that the results might not be as private as the state claims.

“The bill states that the results of the assessments are to be disclosed only to the child’s parent or guardian, but that the health care provider must submit a form to the State Board of Education verifying that the child has received the assessment,” he said.

He urges homeschoolers and any Americans concerned about the violation of children’s constitutional rights to act now.